This is the first issue in a series of reports on a national survey conducted to determine the number and primary uses of microcomputers in schools. The survey sample consisted of 2,209 public, private, and parochial elementary and secondary schools in the United States. Findings of the survey (conducted in 1982/83 by means of mailed questionnaires and telephone contact to the schools) indicate that: (1) secondary schools are the largest pre-college users of microcomputers, with emphasis on the teaching of BASIC language programming; (2) 53 percent of schools now have at least one microcomputer for student instruction; (3) the use of microcomputers is growing faster in secondary schools than in elementary schools; (4) elementary schools tend to have only cassette-based microcomputer equipment; (5) small parochial elementary schools and public schools in poorer districts are less likely to have microcomputers; (6) microcomputers are used for both drill-and-practice and for programming instruction, with greater emphasis placed on drill-and-practice by elementary schools and on programmming instruction by secondary schools; (7) social effects outweigh the academic effects of microcomputers; and (8) above-average students benefit more than average or below-average students from the use of microcomputers. (AOS)